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Can a

steam jet ejector

by Frank Moerman, MSc., EHEDG Belgium and Nico Desanghere, MSc., Sterling SIHI

fit your vacuum process?

Vacuum is widely applied in the chemical and food processing industry, because it permits to perform processes that cannot otherwise be done under atmospheric conditions.

he most well-known sub-atmospheric application is vacuum distilation, where vacuum is used to lower the boiling point of a solvent or other chemical compound in order to perform a separation or purification of a high-boiling-point or thermal sensitive product with minimal input of heat. Vacuum processing is the solution for the increasing high-purity requirements for a growing number of materials in a large variety of applications. The costs of rejected, off-specification product and the rising energy costs are the main incentives to apply vacuum as a process aid.

Applications in the food and chemical industry

Other vacuum applications in the chemical industry are vacuum filtration, vacuum drying, vacuum evaporation, evaporative cooling, degassing, etc. Common vacuum applications in the food industry are given in Table 1.

Keep up your vacuum with a steam jet ejector

Frequently, food and chemical plants find it less costly to obtain vacuum by means of steam jet ejectors. Especially the chemical industry makes largely use of steam jet ejectors to generate the vacuum required in many distillation processes. Table 2 gives an overview of some advantages and disadvantages of steam jet ejectors. Steam jet ejectors (usually multi-stage) are especially used for wet processes that require vacuum levels ranging from 15 mbar down to 0.1 mbar vacuum absolute. Water ring

Fig. 1: fluctuation of pressure and velocity of the steam/gas-stream over its traject through the steam jet ejector. pumps are not capable to generate such a deep vacuum. Moreover, when steam jet ejectors are used to produce the required vacuum for distillation, evaporation or drying processes, the same steam ejectors can act as condenser for the water or solvent vapours drawn from these processes along with the air. A cold wall vapour condenser upstream of the steam jet ejector may not be required, except where a very high degree of efficiency is required or where recuperation of solvents is requested. In contrast to steamjet ejectors, water ring pumps may never act as a condenser in applications where high amounts of solvent or water vapours have to be condensed. In such a situation, always a barometric or shell-and-tube condenser has to be installed upstream of that water ring pump.
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photo: Nitech

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Application
Sous-vide cooking Evisceration (poultry, fish, etc.) De-aeration of vegetable oil Deodorization of vegetable oil Fractional distillation of vegetable oil Fractional distillation of essential oils

Vacuum Absolute (mbar)

50 - 250 100 - 150 50 1-3 10 10

Function
To preserve the freshness and nutritional quality of the minimal processed food. To remove the bowels. To remove oxygen that may oxidize unsaturated fatty acids. To strip compounds that affect flavour, odour, stability and colour from the vegetable oil. To separate fatty acids or their esters from edible oils. Isolation of flavours and fragrances that otherwise may decompose and polymerize in the presence of to much heat. Applied to prolong the shelf life of food and to maintain the basic nutrients in herbs, spices, coffee, fruit, vegetables, etc. Milk is heated up to 140-145C in as few as 3-5 s, contained in a holding tube for a few seconds, and then fastly cooled down to 75-80C due to evaporative cooling as a consequence of a sudden reduction in pressure. On a rotary dum dryer a filter cake of yeast can be sucked dry by means of vacuum. Water evaporates more quickly from food under vacuum. By vacuum drying, food can become crispy, puffed and may have a stable colour. Vacuum drying is biologically desirable since some enzymes that cause oxidation of food become active during normal air drying. These enzymes do not appear to be active under vacuum drying conditions. The speed and the fact that it happens at room temperature guarantees that taste, colour and nutritional value of the food are preserved. Also the fibers are fully preserved, so after reconstitution with water, vacuum dried fruit and vegetables will reproduce the original texture of the fresh fruit and vegetables. The drying process can be accelerated when assisted with micro-wave heating. To concentrate heat-sensitive products (milk, sugar juices, etc.) that are prone to discolouration and formation of cooking favours under the impact of heat. Removal of air of the process water used in the preparation of soft drinks, sparkling and mineral water. Removal of air (oxygen) and dust particles from the bottles to fill. To remove oxygen that may impair the nutritional quality by oxidation and that may promote microbial growth of spoiling bacteria and food pathogens. In modified atmospheric packaging, the air is first removed from the packaging by means of vacuum, to be finally replaced by a modified atmosphere.

Freezing drying

20 - 50

UHT treatment - vacuum flash cooling of milk

50 - 100

Vacuum filtration (e.g. yeast) Vacuum drying

300 - 600 20 - 50 (begin) 1 - 4 (end)

Vacuum evaporation of milk

50

De-aeration of water Bottling of beer, soft drinks, mineral and sparkling water Vacuum packaging of food in plastic bags Modified atmospheric packaging

50 50 - 60 100 100 (to remove the air)

Table 1: vacuum applications in the food industry (Note: with vacuum absolute, we allude to the cacuum pressure measure relative to absolute perfect zero vacuum).

How a steam jet ejector works

A steam jet ejector is in fact based on the principles of a water aspirator, that produces a vacuum by means of a venturi-effect and which is the oldest known method of vacuum generation. In a steam jet ejector, however, the

water is replaced by steam as motive fluid. The motive steam fluid is expanded, after passing through a motive nozzle, where the pressure energy is transformed into kinetic energy. This energy stream impinges with and withdraws gases, air and water vapour from an application where a sub-atmospheric

pressure (vacuum) must be established or maintained. The steam vapour accelerates into the inlet cone of the mixing nozzle. After passing through the throat of the mixing nozzle, into the diffuser, the kinetic energy of the mixed vapour stream is gradually converted back into potential energy, i.e. the medium is
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velocity of the steam/ gas-stream fluctuates over its traject through the steam jet ejector.

Basic components of a steam jet ejector

A single stage steam ejector can produce only a limited vacuum (cfr. Table 2). Multistage steam ejectors (Fig. 2) are used when an application requires a pressure lower than what single-stage ejectors can develop, as the first can develop a greater suction pressure. With more stages added to the system, the pressure of the first stage becomes lesser and lesser, generating a deeper vacuum. The ejector which the entrained gases enter first, is called the first stage and subsequent stages

Fig. 2: three-stage steam jet ejector with two barometric intercondensers and one barometric aftercondenser. compressed to a higher discharge pressure. Fig. 1 demonstrates how the pressure and
Steam-jet type 1-stage 2-stage 3-stage 4-stage Max. absolute vacuum (mbar) 66 5-15 1-1.5 0.1-0.3

are numbered in succession. It is desirable to connect a condenser to the discharge of each steam jet ejector to bring all steam and condensable gases to the liquid state, reducing the load to the succeeding ejector stage and thus imposing on subsequent stages the work of compressing only those gases that are non-condensable. The condensers so em-ployed are known as intercondensers. A condenser connected to the diffuser dis-charge of the final stage is known as an aftercondenser, that is used to prevent the discharge of motive steam and condensable process vapours into atmosphere. An intercondenser operates at pressures less than atmospheric (under vacuum). It is therefore necessary to provide means for draining the mixture of condensing water and condensed steam/condensable vapours from a barometric intercondenser, or the condensed steam/condensable vapours only from a shell-and-tube inter-condenser. The non-condensable vapours are withdrawn from the top of each intercondenser by the vacuum of the subsequent steam ejector. The after-

Advantages
- High achievable vacuum - High suction capacities and gas flow - Controlable over a wide range of vacuum and flow rates - Excellent to handle condensable corrosive and contaminated loads - Excellent to handle liquid slugs and solid particles - Reliable and robust in arduous and corrosive conditions - Simple design - Designed in many materials of construction - Mountable in any position - Low investment cost - No moving parts, less failure risk - Less susceptible to wear, and trouble-freeoperation - Long life-span - Simple repair & maintenance - No heat emission

Disadvantages
- Consumption of large amounts of steam as pressurized motive fluid - High energy consumption - Low thermal efficiency - Requires a steam infrastructure - Need for high quality steam produced from soft-demineralised water - Steam must be dry or should have less than 2% moisture, because wet steam may cause the ejector vacuum to break or fluctuate, and can erode the nozzle and diffusers. - Needs inter-condensers and after-condensed and large amounts of cooling fluid to condense the mixture of motive and process vapour - Contamination of the motive fluid - Large amounts of contaminated steam condensate (waste water) - Load specific and very sensitive to variations in process conditions and pressure - Noisy, requires silencers or sound insulation

Table 2: advantages and disadvantages of steam jet ejectors.

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condenser operates at atmospheric pressure and is provided with a vent to finally allow air and non-condensable gases to escape in the atmosphere.

Barometric condensers
A barometric condenser (also called direct contact condenser) is a vertical vessel where withdrawn process vapours are cooled and condensed by direct contact with downward flowing cold water injected into the top of the vessel. Since the operating pressure of the condenser is sub-atmospheric (under vacuum), collected condensate (effluent cooling water and condensed steam/ vapours) must be continuously removed. That condensate is normally dropped into a receiver tank that is often vented to atmosphere or a low pressure vent system. This creates a situation where the condensate is under vacuum in the condenser and is trying to move toward the receiver tank that is under positive pressure. To overcome this pressure differential, the condenser must be located higher than the receiver tank (the bottom of the condenser should be at least 10.4 meters above the ground) to create a tall barometric leg (10.4 m long pipe) in which a static column of liquid balances the atmospheric pressure. The condensate must flow by gravity through this long sealed vertical tail pipe into

Fig. 3: if tail pipe must change in direction, it should form at least a 45 angle from the horizontal plane; the horizontal piping (right drawing) is vulnerable to gas accumulation. a hot-well (drainage basin provided with an overflow or pump) or a sealed condensate tank (provided with fluid-level control and condensate pump). The barometric leg allows the effluent coolant and condensed vapours in the barometric condenser to exit no matter what its vacuum is, finally preventing the condenser from flooding under normal operation. In the receiver tank, the tail pipe must be submerged enough (not less than 28 cm). If this seal is broken, air will be drawn into the

tailpipe, increasing the risk for flooding the condenser and hence affecting the performance of the downstream vacuum source and the upstream vacuum process. The drainage lines or tailpipes should be preferably installed vertically. Horizontal drain leg runs are not recommended, because they are susceptible to gas pockets. The mixture of cooling water plus condensed steam/condensable vapours always contain air or other non-condensable gases which cling to upper pipe surfaces. All types of pipe contain a certain amount of internal roughness and, because of this, gases tend to start clinging and building up in the smallest crevice. In addition, every flanged joint has a slight crack where a gasket is located, thus permitting another place for gases to collect. As these gases accumulate, they form tiny bubbles, growing into larger ones that eventually become big enough to partially or completely block off piping at that point. In that case, the condensate cannot flow downwards and soon its level rises, flooding the condenser. If piping changes direction, it must form at least a 45 angle from the horizontal (Fig. 3). With this amount of sloping, gases will either slide back up the pipe or continue downward with the thrust of the flowing water. The 45

Fig. 4: (a) with barometric condensers, it is important to note that condensate is splashing down the barometric walls and could run down the vapour inlet and back into the upstream vacuum process, unless the inlet is protected by a dam or series of elbows; (b) Degradation of the absolute vacuum pressure of an upstream process due to the pooling of liquid in pockets located in the vapour inlet or outlet piping. Pocket-free designs, however, may maintain the required absolute vacuum pressures.
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bend may only installed at no less than 5 pipe diameters away from the condenser outlet flange. Where there is insufficient height to construct a proper barometric leg, a low-level, condensate-removal system can be added. This consists of a receiver equipped with a level controller and a condensate pump. As a condensate pump removes condensate at a constant rate, a mechanical level controller opens and closes a valve, to control the flow of cooling water to the condenser. However, if either pump or controller fails, there is a risk of flooding the vacuum system. Direct-contact condensers are easily to design, relatively inexpensive, and make multi-stage steam jet ejector designs less vulnerable to damage or fouling resulting from carryover of entrained solids. The major disadvantage of direct contact condensers is the large quantity of water that passes through once and goes to disposal, increasing the cost of wastewater and the environmental impact.

Shell-and-tube condensers
Surface-type condensers (that can be provided with supplementary mechanical refrigeration) are more complex and more expensive; but the amount of waste water to be treated decreases and valuable compounds can be recycled. In the case that a shell-and-tube surface condenser is used, this condenser must also be installed to allow for complete condensate drainage. The condensate may not flood the lower tubes of the condenser, otherwise they will not be able to remove heat effectively.

Measures to protect the upstream process

With barometric condensers, it is important to note that condensate is splashing down the barometric walls and could run down the vapour inlet and back into the vacuum process equipment, unless the inlet is protected by a dam or series of elbows (Fig. 4a). Condensable vapours flowing in the inlet or outlet vapour pipeline will naturally condense since the pipe is usually cooler than the saturation temperature of the vapour it contains. Vapour piping entering and leaving a barometric condenser (or a shell-and-tube condenser) may not contain any pockets (Fig. 4b) where this liquid can accumulate. The liquid pooling in these pockets, will completely seal off the line, which finally results in a downgrading of the vacuum. The absolute vacuum pressure up-stream of a pocket will rise dramatically. << Literature references

Aliasso, J. (1999), Choose the right vacuum pump, Chemical Engineering, 106 (3), 96-100. Birgenheier D.B., Butzbach T.L., Bolt D.E., Bhatnagar R.K., Ojala R.E., Aglitz J. (1993), Designing steam-jet vacuum systems, Chemical Engineering, 100 (7), 116-121. Croll, S.W. (1998), Keeping steam ejectors on-line, Chemical Engineering, 105 (4), 108-112. Eckles, A.J. & Benz, P.H. (1992), The basics of vacuum processing, Chemical engineering, 101 (1), 78-86. Eckles, A.J. (1997), Difficult to process? Vacuum it!, Chemical Engineering, 104 (9), 94-100. Mains, W. D. & Richenberg, R. E. (1967), Steam Jet Ejectors in Pilot and Production Plants, Chemical Engineering Progress, 63(3):84-88. Ojala, R. (1992), Keep ejectors online, Chemical Engineering, 101 (5), 114-120. Wetzel, L. (1996), Proper piping for vacuum systems, Chemical engineering, 103 (11), 104-110. Unique Systems (2010), Installation, operation, maintenance and troubleshooting of ejector systems, Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, United States, 18 p.